The Dirt Beneath Our Door

My Journey to Freedom After Escaping a Polygamous Mormon Cult

By: Pamela Jones, Elizabeth Ridley - contributor

Narrated by: Carrie Brewer

For fans of Educated and The Sound of Gravel, The Dirt Beneath Our Door tells the remarkable and inspirational story of how a mother escaped a fundamentalist Mormon cult with her eight youngest children, only to struggle with newfound freedom in an America she barely knew.

Sixty-one siblings. Five sister wives. Nine children. And one carefully hidden dream: To escape the violent, misogynistic, fundamentalist Mormon cult that kept Pamela Jones perpetually pregnant, broken, and brutalized.

Today, Pamela Jones is a self-made millionaire and successful CEO. But growing up, she never could have imagined her life would turn out that way. From a young age, she was told her only purpose in life was to be her husband’s handmaid and bear him as many children as possible. While she endured fear, poverty, deprivation, and abuse, her family constantly moved between rural desert compounds in the United States and Mexico, one step ahead of the law and one step ahead of Ervil LeBaron, aka “The Mormon Charles Manson”—the cult’s frightening leader whose brutal blood atonements left a trail of bodies in his wake.

By the time she was newly married at fifteen, Pamela’s husband forbade her any contact with outsiders, including her own family. She’d been raised to believe that her throat would be slit and her blood sprinkled on the soil if she ever tried to escape. But in 2000 at age thirty-four, she knew that if she and her children didn’t escape, they would die.

The Dirt Beneath the Door follows their desperate flight across the Mexican border with only the clothes on their backs, two vehicles and two tanks of gas, a five-dollar bill, and two credit cards her husband had secretly taken out in her name. Once settling in Minnesota, Pamela must use her own resilience and grit as a mother to support her children and build an independent life for her family with less than a fifth-grade education–all while exploring the life and liberties that had been denied to her for so long.

An unforgettable testament to the power of hope and resilience, The Dirt Beneath Our Door is an epic and harrowing tale of finding freedom, believing in yourself, and achieving the American Dream.

©2025 by Pamela Jones and Elizabeth Ridley used with permission of BenBella Books, Inc. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Good read!

Very interesting. Hard to put down
Pamela is a powerful woman who has lived a harsh reality. Through it all, her heart outshines the darkness

The courage and bravery of this woman.

I loved her story and how she overcame her oppressors! She is a shining light for any woman who may feel they are trapped.

Beautiful story of resilience

I love her story, finding her strength and self love is the most empowering thing a women can experience. I love how her children watch her grow into the amazing business women she becomes.

Touching, heartbreaking & inspiring

Genuine and wow. To be able to tell that story and write about those things and then also rise above, and on top of that show and express Grace toward her parents is remarkable and inspirational.

Gripping story of a woman & mother's struggle and overcoming!

Pamela's story is fascinating! I didn't want to stop listening to it from the moment I started it! Learning about her life growing up in a polygamist cult was an amazing window into a world I had only ever heard about. The writing was really enjoyable to listen to. It brought me right into her story. How she overcame all of the brainwashing to value herself and save herself and her children is so inspiring! I love a good book with a struggle and a happy ending. I loved her encourageming message to other women. If your liked The Sound of Gravel, you'll Love The Dirt Beneath Our Door! I highly recommend this book!